Greetings Sward-Masters and Wannabees,

Many of you want to blame the moles on grubs, but that’s not necessarily true.  Moles are voracious insectivores.  Just consider them to be nothing less than an underground “Tyrannosaurus rex!”  Seriously, these critters eat their weight in earthworms, grubs, beetles, centipedes, you name it.  They’re not very active in December and January, but as long as the soil is not frozen, they go out and hunt for food.

We’re shocked to learn how many of you have hired professional mole hunters!  Egads, that’s a lot of jack!  The most cost effective method of mole control is to learn how to use the harpoon trap (which we sell).  Come by and we’ll show all the tricks to killing moles.  Momma Mole has at least 2 litters per season.  You can kill a mole in a particular run, only to have another mole squat in that same network of tunnels.  Jeff has killed as 5 moles in one particular run, over the past 2 seasons!  There are some useful products based upon castor oil, that serve as repellents.  Our research indicates that the castor oil products actually do work, in that they repel moles, and even voles.  Plan on making a monthly application, though.

The baited artificial worms and artificial grubs are excellent products.  Those of you that have difficulty setting the harpoon trap generally have better luck with the baited products.  Regardless of what option you choose, you’ve got to be persistent! You need to stomp down the raised tunnels on a regular basis, to avoid them damaging your lawn, and to identify their active runways.  The active runways are where you set your harpoon trap or place the baited worms/grubs.

15-July-09:  WOW!  I thought I knew damn near everything when it came to grubs, but you really can teach an old dog a new trick.  On Tuesday, 14-July-09 I attended the Mizzou Turf & Ornamental workshop.  A fine use of a vacation day…gotta tell ya.

I was wrong on a few things in the posting(s) below.  Rather than blather on redundantly, I’ve FIXED the mistakes in the originate postings, below.  READ IT ALL!  Very important stuff.

25-June-09:  Well, it’s time to put down your imidacloprid (Mallet® or Merit®!  June 15th has come and gone, and it takes about 3 weeks (not just a few days, as reported prior) for the active ingredient to be taken up by the roots and supplied to the top of bushes and trees, in order to provide the inside-out protection.  Get ‘er done!  Come see us for your product needs.

Timing for turfgrass application, to control the numerous species of white grubs (the larval stage of numerous beetles), is usually June 7 to June 15th.  However, timing for control of ADULT Japanese beetles that forage on your garden plants is a week or so BEFORE that…June 1 to June 7.  Recall that we espoused the application of imidacloprid in the garden in April, during your bed cleanup, and before your new coat of mulch is laid down.  Well, that’s a good timing to control dozens of critters, such as aphid, mealy bug, scale, cutworms, etc., but you need to refresh the insecticide at the base of those plants that are favored by Jap beetles…especially roses, lindens, crapemyrtles, and whatever else they devour in your garden.  Adult Japanese beetles typically emerge in late June to early July…thus the need to have the insecticide in place in the landscaped beds in early June.  The first dose simply doesn’t last long enough, in case  you’re wondering why you need a second application.  We’re not BS’ing you…we don’t need to sell you more imidacloprid.

Grub control is a vital element of THE Turf Plan^SM, or any decent lawn program, for that matter. You simply MUST treat for grubs, because they are voracious root eating insect. They can cause significant turf injury in a very short period of time. 

There are two effective insecticide product families for the treatment of grubs, with dramatically different timings and modes of action. The first is option is a systemic product called imidacloprid, with a trade name of Mallet or Merit. We sell this product on a 0-0-7 fertilizer granule. Visit our Garden Shop to purchase it. This product needs to be applied to turf in mid-June and a 50 lb bag will cover 12M (12,000 sq ft of turf).  Water the day after application, if we haven’t received natural rainfall.

The second product we offer is Dylox®, applied in mid-August. Dylox is a systemic insecticide, meaning that a grub can munch on a root, and die, if the turf roots have absorbed the insecticide. Plus, it’s also contact active, which means that the grubs will die if they’ve come into contact with the insecticide. A 30 lb bag will treat 10M (10,000 sq ft). We sell this product, too.  To enhance the effectiveness of Dylox, time the application the day after a heavy rain or irrigation event. The grubs have to come closer to the soil surface for oxygen after the soil becomes saturated. As long as there is not standing water on the soil surface, apply the insecticide. Then give it a brief irrigation to water it in. The follow-up irrigation will effectively dissolve the active ingredient, and literally “wash it over” the grubs. We’ll send you a personalized email to help you fine tune the timing of both products, because depending upon temperatures, the optimum timing may vary a week or two.

If you know you’ve suffered from a lot of turf damage from grubs we recommend that you use both imidacloprid (mid-June) and Dylox (mid-Aug), for at least for a year, until you get your grub problem below “economic thresholds”.

WHERE DO GRUBS COME FROM? There are four significant families of beetles that cause landscape damage;  May beetles, June bugs, chafers, and Japanese beetles (this horticultural trivia is useful at Happy Hour, when you’re trying to impress the opposite sex!).  These are all the adult version of the white grub that loves to destroy our turfgrass. Most everyone knows what a June bug is…kinda like a milk dud with six legs. But, their smaller cousins, a host of “chafers”, are actually more common grub worms. Chafers are about half to two-thirds the size of June bugs, and they’re more “bronzy” or coppery in color, compared to the classic dark brown color of the May or June beetle. And then, there’s the Japanese beetle…a smidge smaller than the chafer, but of all the species that make grubs, this one is by far the most damaging to landscapes in the adult stage. As most gardeners know, Japanese beetles can strip a garden clean in just a week or two. Adult Japanese beetles are actually quite showy, with a metallic greenish-purple sheen.  The giant of them all, though, is the “green June bug”, a big, showy, shiny metallic green bass turd…like a Japanese beetle on steroids (thanks JH!).  They’re huge! 

When you’re entertaining in the evening on the patio in the late spring and early summer, the chafers and June bugs are the species that are drawn to light. (These are the dudes that scare the hell out of the ladies when they fly about. Ladies really freak for some reason, because they think the beetles are purposefully trying to land in their hair, to suck their blood).  Sorry, gotta laugh when that happens…all that screaming and hands flailing, and maybe some funny prancing, if you’re luck to witness.  Indeed, the flying adult beetle does look big and scary, but there’s no need to worry, because they’re not blood suckers. The adult beetles are actually out trolling for nookie, with the purpose of mating and laying eggs, to ensure the survival of their species. After coupling (such a scientific term, eh?), the female beetle commences her egg-laying over a span of 30 to 45 days…so they must eat to keep their energy up (like on your honeymoon!).  And of course, they eat PLANTS!  So, if you don’t use imidacloprid at the base of their favorite plants, in early June, then you should consider protecting your valuable plants with an insecticide.  DON’T SPRAY ANY OPEN FLOWERS WITH ANY INSECTICIDE, especially sevin, because you’ll really hurt the honeybees.  By the way, the Japanese beetle is a day-flier, not a night-flier.

Should you Worry About Grubs in Your Landscape Beds? Many questions come to us during the spring rush to plant annuals and perennials. You’re out there working the soil, and you observe that grubs are very common. Well, the experts say it takes more than a dozen grubs per square foot to cause visible turf injury, but we’ve found that one bad ass can cause a noticeably bad patch of turf (3 to 4” across). But, that’s for turf, not petunias and other ornamental plants. We recommend that we treat your beds with imidacloprid in your landscape beds because every plant in that bed will have systemic protection against the insects that feed upon our plants. If you treat your beds, you will indeed control any white grub that munches on the roots of a plant that has been treated with Mallet.  Full season control in the landscape bed requires an early application in March/April, followed by a second dose in early June.  We’d recommend that you really only re-treat those plants that are hit heavy by either the Japanese beetle (roses, crapes, grapes, linden trees, etc.).  We have learned the imidacloprid does NOT control bagworm larvae…and we apologize for reporting this in earlier posts.

Night lighting will actually draw more of the chafers, may and june beetle adults to your garden.  The more beetles you atract, the worse your grub problem will be!  Leave the lights on, but be sure to use an insecticide.

Those silly Japanese beetle traps are NOT effective, because once again, they’re baited to attract both the male and the female of the species.  Sure, you’ll catch the dumb ones, but the smart ones will stay outside the trap, fornicate like hillbillies  and lay dozens of eggs in YOUR turf.  Even worse, you’re helping the smart one survive…think about it!  A trap placed in the neighbor’s yard may not be such a bad thing, though.  If you’ve got a neighbor who has set a trap near your property, talk to them, and ask it to take it down.  Again, you’ve got to treat for grubs if you like a good lawn.

Milky spore is a big rip-off!  At the field day at MU an elderly prof explained how the commercial product sold as Milky Spore is NOT pathogenic to the grub worm population!  There’s a problem in the manner in which this product is manufactured…so don’t fall prey to this cock-and-bull “feel good” product.  Years ago, when milky spore was effective, it was fermented using dead insects as the source of the lethal bacterium that killed the beetles.  No longer, though.  Thus, it’s no longer effective, but tell that to the suckers.  Even then, if you used milky spore, you couldn’t use an insecticide, because you needed to build up an ample population of milky spore bacteria, which requires a decent population of grub worms to “feed upon”.  An insecticide eliminated this possibility.  Shoudl anybody try to talk all “high and mighty” to ya, espousing the virtues of of the organic milky spore insecticide, just tell them, “Good luck, you silly gomer!”